Start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign

Development of COVID-19 vaccines and the vaccination programme

The development of COVID-19 vaccines began as early as January 2020, 2 months before the outbreak of the disease was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The UK government provided funding for vaccine research in the UK and globally from February 2020 onwards.

In April 2020, Business Secretary Alok Sharma announced a Vaccine Taskforce. The objectives of the taskforce included securing vaccine supplies for the UK. The taskforce reported to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Between May and September 2020, different government bodies set up various programmes to prepare for vaccine development and delivery in England. In September 2020, a single COVID-19 vaccine deployment programme was created, led by NHS England and Improvement.

Vaccine approval and delivery

On 2 December 2020, the first COVID-19 vaccine – developed by Pfizer/BioNTech – obtained regulatory approval for use in the UK from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Oxford AstraZeneca and Moderna (later renamed Spikevax) vaccines were approved in late December 2020 and early January 2021 respectively. More COVID-19 vaccines were approved after this, but these first three vaccines were used for most initial COVID-19 vaccinations in England. All three required two doses for greatest protection.

Government committed to prioritising vaccine delivery based on which populations were at greatest risk of severe clinical outcomes from COVID-19. It followed advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) – an independent body of experts – on who should be prioritised. The JCVI published its initial advice on the first nine priority groups for the COVID-19 vaccination programme on 2 December 2020. The highest priority groups were residents in care homes for older adults, people aged 80 and older, and frontline health and social care workers.

NHS England and Improvement was responsible for the operational delivery of the vaccine programme. On 8 December 2020, in a hospital in Coventry, England, Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial. NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens described this as ‘a remarkable achievement’ and the ‘first step in the largest vaccination programme this country has ever seen’. Vaccines were delivered in a range of settings, including in hospital ‘hubs’, GP surgeries, pharmacies and by ‘roving’ vaccination teams in community settings.

On 15 February 2021, government announced that it had met its target to offer first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the first four priority groups, which covered all care home residents and staff, frontline health and social care workers, people aged 70 and older, and the clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV).

Later developments and impact

The vaccination programme occurred in several phases. Following the initial delivery of two doses (a complete course), an individual’s immunity against COVID-19 was found to reduce over time and therefore booster doses of the vaccine were recommended. In December 2021, the government accelerated its delivery of the first round of booster doses to increase protection against the spread of Omicron, a new variant of COVID-19.

The JCVI’s advice on COVID-19 vaccination changed over time. For example, it initially advised vaccination of adults only, but advice changed so that children were offered COVID-19 vaccines (from July 2021, with clinically vulnerable children aged 12 to 17).

By 16 February 2022, 91% of the UK population aged 12 and over had received a first dose, 85% a second dose and 66% a booster dose. 139,271,748 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered. From 24 February 2022, government implemented a ‘Living with COVID-19’ strategy, stating that the vaccination programme had enabled the removal of remaining restrictions to limit viral spread and the transition to an endemic phase of the virus. There were subsequent boosters prioritised for people at higher risk of severe clinical outcomes or who worked with clinically vulnerable individuals.

In an assessment of the vaccination programme published in July 2022, the Public Accounts Committee concluded that it had been ‘highly successful’ but highlighted that some population groups, such as pregnant women and some minority ethnic groups, had a much lower uptake and that nearly 3 million people remained unvaccinated.